


Something More

by monimala



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-13
Updated: 2012-05-13
Packaged: 2017-11-05 07:47:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/404028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monimala/pseuds/monimala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during the first seven episodes of the series. Stephen knows that Abby is in love with him. That hardly makes things any easier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something More

Stephen can’t pinpoint, for certain, precisely when Abby fell in love with him. Sometimes, he thinks it was when Liv went to get the tire iron from the trunk. In those winter-chilled moments when he tucked a blanket around her thin shoulders, staring at her bruised and bloodied face without flinching --because, by God, if she could withstand it, so could he-- and then stepped back to give her space. “You’re safe now,” he’d told her, quietly, “and I won’t touch you again until you can stand to look at a man without thinking he’s the worst sort of filth.” In the eye that wasn’t swollen shut, he saw something more than gratitude, something like a grudging respect. That was, of course, 38 seconds before Olivia became her warrior woman, her gladiator. In the years since, Abby has only ever looked at him with anger… with irrational fury over the feelings he won’t return.

“You can’t do it, you know,” Liv said to him over tepid cups of coffee in the hospital lounge. “You can’t rescue her. You can’t fix this for her. She has to do that for herself, and she won’t be able to if she gets her recovery all tangled up in a crush on her protector. Don’t be her hero, Stephen. You don’t want that responsibility. You don’t want that shitstorm. Let _me_ take that on, because that’s what I do.”

She was right, of course. Even now, she is almost always right. So he’s engaged to be married and he doesn’t hire bedmates anymore --“Your whores!” Abby spits, her pretty face a mask of ugly judgment-- and he has no heroic responsibilities beyond those assigned to him. He and Abby get on tolerably well, squeezing into his car along with the elephant that haunts their every step, and he matches her sniping with deceptively placid smiles.

Once in a while, he considers that she fell for him when they kissed. It wasn’t _that_ sort of kiss; he’s been reckless in his dealings with women but not so reckless as that… particularly after having been warned away by the great Olivia Pope herself. It was a holiday party, Thanksgiving or Christmas or fucking Boxing Day… and Harrison had liberated a fiendishly good bottle of scotch. They’d all been drinking, even Liv, and gotten sloppy like university students, trading hugs and “I love you, man”s and, yes, kisses. Abby, he remembers, kissed Harrison and Huck first. Sisterly, giggling --he can count on one hand the number of times he’s seen her laugh like that-- falling against them as they tried to leave the office without making any noise. Failing miserably, with hilarious, pratfall-ridden results. He’d helped her with her coat, buttoning it to her chin and smoothing her lapels, telling her, “Be a good love and take a cab home.” And he’d pressed his lips to her forehead. Just long enough for her to cling to him and breathe in.

“Don’t,” she’d said afterwards, sobriety bright in those brutal eyes. “Don’t pretend you care.”

He doesn’t. Pretend, that is. His emotions are completely legitimate. Fractured, divided amongst three incredibly different, dynamic women, but legitimate. In fact, Stephen can pinpoint exactly when he grew to care for Abby… and he also recalls, with perfect clarity, why he’ll never do a damn thing about it.

_”I won’t touch you again until you can stand to look at a man without thinking he’s the worst sort of filth.”_

Snow melts to make way for spring. Blood washes off. Bruises eventually fade. But there’s always, _always_ , another layer of dirt.

\--end--

April 29, 2012


End file.
